The invention herein relates to a hydrocephalus shunt having an inline filter which is capable of being implanted in the body to provide for transfer of body fluids from one part of the body to any other part of the body.
Shunt systems for drainage of unwanted body fluids from one region of the body to another region are generally known. A well-known usage of such shunt systems is in the treatment of hydrocephalus, wherein excess cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) is drained from the ventricles of the brain to either the right atrium or the peritoneal cavity. A known example of such a system is shown by Rudolph R. Schulte, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,125, titled "Drainage Device." Another such device is disclosed by Allan J. Mishler in U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,240 and still another system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,439 to Schulte and Portnoy.
The above-described devices are often implanted under the skin and connected to a ventricle drainage tube in the brain. The devices are also attached to a catheter which is inserted into the right atrium of the heart or into the peritoneum. After implantation and use over extended time periods, such devices tend to become clogged in certain individuals. Such clogging tends to occur at the catheter or passageway from the ventricle of the brain leading into inner chambers of the devices due to foreign materials which may be present in the CSF and which collects in the narrow, tubular passageways of the devices and at the openings in such passageways to the drain. Consequently, it is often necessary to perform second or subsequent operations on an individual to remove the devices which have become clogged.
Some of the devices provide means for flushing the devices. However, sometimes it is difficult to flush the devices or such flushing proves futile and incapable of removing the obstruction. In some instances, the devices can become obstructed with cells, which cells may be metastatic cancerous cells due to draining of tumors or cavities following operations for removal of tumors. In such instances, it is undesirable to permit such tumor cells to be transported to other parts of the body.
The inconvenience, cost and physical and psychological problems involved in performing the additional operations are considerable and undesirable. It would be desirable to provide a shunt or valve system which when obstructed can be manipulated to provide a bypass around such an obstruction.